The present invention relates generally to low calorie bulking agents for use in substitutes for sucrose and other starch hydrolyzate products. More specifically, the invention relates to hydrolyzate products of starch ethers and specifically to improved hydrolyzate products of hydroxypropyl starch having particular utility as low calorie food ingredients.
Sucrose is a vital component of numerous food products not only because of the sweetness that it provides, but also because of the bulking properties provided by the crystalline sugar. In recent years, starch hydrolyzate products such as corn syrups, corn syrup solids and high fructose corn syrups have been used to partially or completely replace sucrose in many food formulations. Such starch hydrolyzate products, however, provide a sweet taste but do not appreciably reduce the calorie content of the food product to which they are added. While the sweetness associated with sucrose, other sugars and starch hydrolyzate products can be replaced in dietetic products by the addition of high potency sweeteners such as aspartame, sodium saccharine and the like, such high potency sweeteners cannot provide the bulking and texture properties required by a wide variety of food products (and including some beverages). The bulking properties associated with sucrose and starch hydrolyzate products can be critical to providing the end properties typically associated with food products generally, and with food products such as baked goods and frozen desserts in particular.
A great deal of effort has been expended in the art directed to providing reduced calorie bulking agents which can be combined with high potency sweeteners to replace sucrose and other sweet starch hydrolyzate products in food products. Materials such as cellulose derivatives have met with limited success in replacing the bulk associated with sucrose because the high viscosities associated with such products can adversely modify the textural properties of the food product in which they are incorporated. Other bulking agents for replacement of sucrose include a material known as polydextrose described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,233 which is a largely indigestible recombination product of glucose and sorbitol. Polydextrose is disclosed to provide about 1 calorie per gram which compares favorably with conventional carbohydrates which provide about 3.5 to 4 calories per gram but is considered to be relatively costly to produce.
Of interest to the present invention is the disclosure of Kesler, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,505,110 which discloses low calorie sugar products prepared by hydrolysis of hydroxypropylated starch. Kesler discloses methods for etherifying starches with propylene oxide to produce a hydroxypropyl starch which is then subjected to hydrolysis to produce a reduced calorie, non-cariogenic sucrose substitute. The hydrolysis products are characterized by a DE of from 1 to 30 and are said to be composed principally of glucose and hydroxypropylated polysaccharides and contain little or no (preferably less than 0.5%) maltose, which is a disaccharide. The patent discloses preferred methods of producing the hydrolyzate product comprising hydrolyzing the hydroxypropyl starch with a liquefying enzyme to break up the long chain starch molecules and then treating with a saccharifying enzyme to further hydrolyze the intermediate length molecules to produce glucose (having a degree of polymerization (DP) of 1) to the substantial exclusion of maltose (DP 2). The products of Kesler are said to be intended for use as substitutes for ordinary sugar and are disclosed to rely upon their own sugar content for sweetness rather than upon artificial sweetening agents. Hydroxypropyl starch hydrolyzate products made according to the art fail, however, to be characterized by bulking properties suitable for use as a sucrose replacer in a wide variety of food products.